Turn 70
Vanheim must have figured that he wouldn't win the deathmatch, because he sent an independant commander without any equipment to the arena! Devarama was trained and ready for anything - imagine his surprise when he took the field and saw his opponent. Of course he won, but what an anticlimax! I was hoping for a showdown with Vanheim's prophet.
Vanehim did, though, attack one of my provinces that I had left mostly empty. I recalled my commanders to the nearest fortified city to redeploy, and in my absence the province was lost. Not a big deal though - I can take it back anytime I want; Vanheim's army is not too large.
In other news, last month was a productive one in terms of magical artifact forging: I managed to make the sword Ember, which strikes with both fire and ice; the tome of high power, which increases skill with air and astral magic; Fenris' Pelt - a huge wolf pelt that makes you berserk and calls wolves to you; the boots of Calius the Druid, which give reinvigoration; Krupp's bracers, which aid in protecting and reinvigorating the wearer; finally the Green Eye, which, when put in place of a mage's eye will cast spells of its own accord, and make spells cast by the mage more powerful.
This turn I will be able to forge the powerful Hammer of the Forge Lord.
Boreda the Yakshini and two of her sisters are moving with a small army into the province held by the Vampire Count this month. I am also moving Devarama into the province held by Bogus and friends, to get a closer look and determine perhaps what the best offense should be. He will stay in the back and perhaps pick off one of the raiders before retreating.
Counting my men I have 342 Yavanas, 118 Guhyakas, 43 Bandar, and just 6 Gandharvas. I am forming 5 small Army groups - 4 in the field and 1 in reserve. Two will take Vanheim on the western side of the mountains, and two on the eastern side. Once they get close to Vanheim's capital they can form two large army groups. Devasura will command the reserves, since he is crippled and can't get around so easily. Bishen and Dhritiman the two Siddhas will command two groups, and the two Devatas, Devasura and Balastha, will command the final two groups. In addition I have several Warrior Mages mounted on horseback and armoured as knights that I will deploy. They can cast personal buffs and then charge into combat. They can take care of uprisings, emergency measures and remaining independant provinces. But for now I wait. I wait until the various uprisings have been taken care of, and until I have forged more equipment to outfit my commanders. In the mean time Ratheldun the Elludian Stalker will go before me, knocking out key enemy commanders and throwing the army of Vanheim into disarray.
Here is a view of the kingdom of Vanheim as it stands at the moment:
